‘We have to believe’: Emery calls on Aston Villa to produce PSG comeback

Unai Emery urged his Aston Villa players to “write history” by recording a memorable comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Villa must overturn a two-goal deficit after a first-leg defeat in France and the Villa manager doubled down on his belief that Villa can cause a shock, with Emery adamant the “fortress” atmosphere at Villa Park on Tuesday can help his side find a winning formula.

Emery said PSG’s 3-1 lead does not alter the task at hand. “I have experiences coming back from results, positively and negatively,” he said. “Now it is something different, we want to write here the history with Aston Villa. Last year [we played] in the Conference League and this year in the Champions League and [now] hopefully for a long time in Europe. My experiences before were different … sometimes losing away and winning at home, sometimes losing at home and winning away. More winning than losing … but I had some negative experiences as well.”

Emery was infamously on the wrong end of a comeback when Luis Enrique’s Barcelona triumphed 6-1 at the Camp Nou against Emery’s PSG in the Champions League in 2017, a humiliating last-16 exit, known as La Remontada, given Emery’s PSG won the first leg 4-0. Emery won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2014, his first major European trophy, after recovering from a 2-0 first-leg reverse against Benfica earlier in the competition.

Emery added: “I’m not going to remind the players of those experiences because my idea and my every word with the players inside is sending the message of how we are getting experiences together here with Aston Villa. With the players we are, with the experiences we are adding in our bag last year and this year. As well with the combination we have with our players mentally and as well tactically to play, being so, so demanding in our process to get opportunities and believing to beat PSG. We need to use Villa Park like a fortress. We have felt it a lot of times. We have to believe.”

Emery dismissed suggestions PSG could be fresher given they have had a clear run of six days before the second leg, while Villa travelled to Southampton and won 3-0 on Saturday. The Ligue De Football Professionel (LFP), French football’s governing body, agreed to reschedule PSG’s Ligue 1 match with Nantes, which was originally scheduled for last weekend. “We have the habit of playing a lot of matches in a row, three matches in a week, and as well they also have this habit,” the Villa manager said. “They are ready to play. They are rested but for me it’s not very relevant.”

The England forward Morgan Rogers, a key Villa player this season, echoed Emery’s sentiments that the atmosphere could be a secret ingredient in any comeback. “There’s massive belief. Most people wrote us off before the tie. We’re excited, under the lights at home, playing in the quarter-finals of this competition … there are not many places better to be. If anyone’s going to turn it around, it’s going to be us.”

Asked about the role of the supporters, Rogers added: “In the position we’re in, the second leg being at home is massive for us. We can create our own atmosphere. We have done it this season in the big games, not just in the Champions League but in our big league games as well. They’re a massive boost for us. That energy, that feeling, that vibe is sometimes bigger than the actual game.

“That’s what drives you on … you can forget about all the tactics or the intricate stuff we’re going to work on, sometimes it’s just about that sheer energy and heart and determination within the stadium. Sometimes that can be just enough to pull you through tough moments and get you to where you need to go. We need every bit of support and we’ll feed off that 100%. We’re excited for the challenge.”

Emery had an amusing exchange with a French journalist when asked whether PSG have a weakness at set pieces. PSG have conceded seven Ligue 1 goals from set pieces but just two in the Champions League. “If I speak about them, maybe tomorrow they will perform fantastically,” he said, smiling. “They have been successful defensively at set pieces. How? Because they are not conceding a lot of corners, a lot of fouls. They are avoiding the opponent’s capacity to threaten them through set pieces because they are not conceding a lot.”